A variety of insulating and cooling receptacles for beverage containers have been suggested in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,428 shows a mug-like container for a beverage-holding can. The receptacle is completely open at its top to permit the can to extend above its upper lip, while the side walls and base of the receptacle are lined by a chamber containing a freezable substance. Therefore, the complete, rather voluminous, receptacle must be placed in a freezer in order to pre-freeze the substance prior to use. Furthermore, because the receptacle lacks a removable top portion, it is not suitable for use in insulating and cooling conventionally shaped bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,354 shows an insulated receptacle for a beverage container which includes a removable cover containing the freezable substance. This receptacle, however, is suitable only for storage of the beverage container, and contains no suggestion or means for permitting pouring or drinking while the beverage is insulated and cooled by the receptacle.
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,072 and German Offenlegungsschrift No. 23 35 041, disclose beverage coolers having removable sections containing the freezable liquid. However, these patents fail to suggest or disclose a beverage insulating and cooling receptacle which is constructed to permit the user to conveniently drink from the beverage bottle while the bottle is being insulated and cooled within the receptacle, with the receptacle being readily held in one hand. Other relevant patents which similarly fail to provide the above features are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,564,165 and 3,434,302.
Accordingly, it is the principle object of the present invention to provide an improved insulating and cooling receptacle for a conventionally shaped beverage-containing bottle which (1) provides maximum volume for a freezable substance, (2) is dimensioned and shaped to permit the top of a bottle to project above the top of the receptacle so that the user may drink or pour from the bottle while it is within the receptacle, (3) is small enough to permit the user to readily hold the receptacle in one hand while drinking from the bottle, (4) provides means for retaining the bottle even when the receptacle and bottle are inverted during pouring or drinking.
These objectives have been accomplished in the present invention by placing the reservoir for the freezable substance in a separate removable cap portion which is shaped to follow the contour of the narrow neck portion of the bottle. This shape has several advantages. It makes use of the annular volume surrounding the neck of the bottle to provide maximum volume for the coolant without increasing the exterior diameter of the receptacle, thereby facilitating gripping of the receptacle by one hand. This shape also permits the receptacle cap to retain the bottle within the receptacle even when the receptacle is inverted. The placement of the freezable substance at the top of the receptacle acts in several ways to provide maximum cooling effect upon the beverage. Convection of air in the annular air space between the bottle and the interior of the receptacle tends to carry cold air downward along the full length of the bottle, thereby cooling portions of the bottle remote from the cap. Because all of the beverage poured from the container will pass through the cooled upper portion of the bottle immediately before it exits from the bottle, it receives a final cooling as it leaves the bottle. Furthermore, the repeated tilting or inversion of the bottle during pouring aids in repeatedly circulating the beverage still within the bottle past the cooled upper portion of the bottle.